


Iron and Obsidian

by orphan_account



Series: Iron and Obsidian [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comfort, Drinking, F/M, Fluff, POV Alternating, POV First Person, Pre-Relationship, Self-Harm, Spoilers, sex mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-05-23 19:23:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6127503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ataashi Adaar (or Ash to those who she is close to) has to put her old life behind when the Temples of Sacred Ashes explodes. She has to help out a new organizations called the Inquisition and her old mercenary group the Vas-Kos. When she is sent out to meet to leader of The Bulls Chargers she doesn't know what to expect. What she finds leaves her heart fluttering and her guard up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting the Chargers

I sat on a wooden crate at camp on The Storm Coast with my staff across my knees, the morning light trying to shine threw the grey clouds. We had arrived last night and were preparing to meet The Bulls Chargers. I was polishing my staff when I started to think back a couple days when I bumped into Cremisius Aclassi.

* * *

I had ran into him while rushing out of Havens' Chantry to see my new Red Hart. When we collided I landed right on top of him with an ohf coming from below. 

I quickly scrambled to her feet "Sorry, sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I was so focused on meeting my new mount I wasn't really watching where i was going..." I started rambling as I pulled him back up to his feet and dusted the snow off his armor. When I looked at his face he was staring at me with an amused smile

"It's okay miss. I'm Cremisius, Lieutenant of The Bulls Chargers. My chef would like to inform the inquisition of Tevinter mercenaries out on the Storm Coast, but I'm having a hard time finding someone who isn't busy" 

"Well I'm not busy. I'll let the ambassadors know about this. Is there anything your chief wants in return?" I asked while looking him over. He wasn't that tall, then again I'm a qunari and he's only a human, with only coming up to my shoulders. His hair was short on top and shaved on the sides with some snowflakes clinging to some of the strands.

"Nothing in return. He is giving the Inquisition this information free of charge. If you would like to see what the Chargers can do for the Inquisition, Meet us there and watch us work" He stated while picking up my wooden staff and handing it to me.

"Okay, We will set out after we get everything ready and meet you at the Coast" He nodded and left.

* * *

I looked around and saw Varric strapping Bianca onto his back. I have always wondered what the story behind it was but every time I asked I got a different story so I stopped, assuming it was something he didn't want to share. I understood, there are things from my past that I would rather keep to myself too. 

"Are you ready to leave?" Cassandra asked. I got up and nodded, holding onto my staff just incase things get sour. With that we headed down to the location Cremisius gave them. When we arrived we saw the Tevnter mercenaries and what they assumed to be Bulls Chargers. There were bodies everywhere. Some with smashed skulls and some with missing limbs. All that was left were the Chargers. Cremisius was the first to spot me and turned to notify the Qunari. He turned to look at us and the qunari and Cremisius started to walk over towards us.

"Damn its true!" The qunari laughs "Oh the chantry must love you! I'm The Iron Bull and as you have figured out already these are my chargers" He said gesturing to the group behind him.

I looked him over. The blood was being washed off this chest and face by the rain and he was littered in scars. I had a thing for scars, I wanted to reach out and trace them with my fingers, feeling to mended skin beneath my callused hand but resisted. I scolded myself in my head for wanting to act this way. I focused back on Iron Bulls face and started speaking "So Iron Bull what can your group give the Inquisition?" I cocked my head to the side a little, crossing my arms across my chest. He sat on a near by rock and looked up at me with one arm resting on his knee and the other propped him up. For some reason that made the butterflies in my stomach wake up. I put on my poker face that Taarlok helped perfect.

"You've seen us fight, we are expensive but we're worth it, and I'm sure the inquisition can afford us. Trust me, where worth it" He stated

"They seem like an excellent company" 'Not as good as the Val-Kos though' I thought. The Val-Kos were the closest thing to a family I had and they rarely had an unsuccessful mission.

"They are. You wont be getting just them. You'll also be getting me. You need a front line body guard and I'm your man. Whatever it is. Demons, Dragons, the bigger the better. There is one other thing that might be useful, might piss you off. Ever hear of the Ben-Hassrath?" Iron Bull said calmly turning towards me.

"Yes, Sho... My friend informed me about them. They hate Vashoth. Doesn't matter if they aren't Tal. What about them?" I asked narrowing my eyes slightly. 'He can't be one of them can he? What would they want with me?'

"The Ben-Hassrath are concerned about the breach. Magic out of control like that can cause trouble everywhere. I've been ordered to join the Inquisition, get close to the people in charge, and send reports on what's happening. I also get reports from Ben-Hassrath agents all over Orlais. You sign me on, I'll share them with your people." He said. 'that would be useful...' I thought.

"Do they know about my magic and that my parents were Tal-Vashoth? What will you be sending back?" I asked

"No they don't. They don't have to know. I'd send them enough to keep them happy. Nothing that will compromise your operations. The Qunari want to know if they need to launch an invasion to stop the whole damn world from falling apart" He said shaking his head.

"Fine then. Don't make me regret this." I said and glanced over to my group. Varric was talking with some of the chargers whilst Cassandra was keeping her eye out for danger and Sera was throwing stones at the crashed ships.

"We wont." He chuckled "Krem, tell the men to finish drinking on the road. The chargers just got hired."

"What about the casks Chief? We just opened them up with /axes/." Krem looked very annoyed at Iron Bull.

"Well find a way to seal them. You're Tevinter right? Try blood magic" I heard Iron Bull say as I walked back to my group.

"You didn't actually let them join, yea? He said he was a spy!" Sera whispered not wanting the others to hear.

"Who will give us reports on things happening all across Orlais." I said. "I know it will be weird having a spy in our group but he is going to give his reports to Leliana before they get sent out." Sera just huffed in response and threw another rock at the broken boat. This time breaking one of the windows.

"Lets start heading back to Haven." Cassandra said loud enough to let the  
Chargers know that we are leaving. We all got our stuff and sent a raven to let the others know of the new add-on and headed back to Haven.


	2. Letter from home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited the first chapter and switched it to first person. The only different thing about it is that it's, well, in first person instead of third.

The jorney to Haven took almost 3 days. I had taken the chance to get to know the Chargers and Bull better. We had arrived just as it was getting dark and I managed to slip into my quarters without a bunch of peole noticing. It was uncomfortable to have everyone hovering around me calling me 'Herald' or 'Your Worship'. I enjoyed my peace and quiet, which was hard to come by ever since the explosion. I lit the fire and started to take off my armor when I noticed a letter on my bed. I sighed and picked up the letter. A sudden chill went down my spine with the though of someone being in my shack. 'What else could they have done in here?' I thought and quickly looked around the room. I saw that there was a chest sitting by the desk and looked at the letter. 'This better have some answers' I thought, started reading the letter and sat on my bed.

_Ash_

_I heard youre the 'Herald of Andraste' now. Must be fun. Everybody misses you here and we all though you had died but when we heard that a red headed qunari was the only survivor we knew it was you. Who else could it have been? Ashaad and Ashaad Two made you daggers. Katoh also made you a blanket. Kaariss made you a book of his poem (He started to work on them as soon as I said that there was a survivor.) Taarlok sent you some runes he had found. I sent you this letter, your brothers book, and your mothers necklace. I know how much you value those items so I figured you would want them. Hissra, Sataa, and Meraad are still not over the shock that you've survived and want to come visit you to see for themselves._

_Stay safe,  
Shokrakar_

_P.S. YOU ARSE YOU SENT ME AWAY AND THEN GET BLOWN UP! YOU SCARED THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! IF THIS HAPPENS AGAIN WE ARE COMING TO SEE YOU AND I AM GOING TO SMACK THE SHITE OUT OF YOU!  
-Meraad_

I laughed a sad laugh at the letter and squeazed my eyes shut trying to keep the tears back. I missed them so much. I rushed to the box and opened it up. Sure enough everything they had sent was in here. The daggers were silver and had Obsidian detaling to go with my horns. The blanket was soft and blue. I removed it and wrapped it around myself. All that was left were two books, a bag, and a smaller box with 'Kadan' carved into the top in Shokrakar's handwriting. The bag was full of fire runes.

"He knows me so well" I set the bag down. I grabbed the poem book and looked at it, it didnt have anything other than 'Kaariss's poems' on the front. When I opened it up there were poems and drawings on every page, discribing our adventure together. I decided to read it later and set it on the desk. I carfully picked up 'Hard in Hightown' and chuckled at the fact that I was now fighting along side the author of this. The book was tearing at the spin from the countless ammount of times I had read it to my brother. He loved this book. We found it on a barrel outside of some house we were passing by. We didnt have any money to go and buy anymore so we just kept reading it over and over again. I set it down and put a mental note to tell Varric about it. All that was left the box. I already know what is inside it. It was a dragons tooth cut in two. Their father had given it to mother so that no matter how far apart life takes them they would always be together. I hope that some day I will find someon like that. I signed and put the box into the bigger box along with the books and runes. I crawled over to the bed and flopped down. Instanly falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

* * *  
A couple uneventfull days had passed and all I did was run around and help decide which group does what. I assigned the Valo-Kas some missions and had them keep the loot and gold they gathered. 

When I woke up the morning sun was peaking threw the curtains and shining on my face. I groaned and pulled the covers over my head. I didn't want to do anything today. That wasn't going to happen today though and I knew that when there was a knock at the door. 'Mabey if I ignore it, they will go away' I thought. Well hoped because I knew that it was probably important if they were coming to my door. I sighed and got up to answer it.

"Good morning Herald. I got word of some more rifts opening up near the farm in the Hinterlands and I think we should go before they get out of hand. So pack your things and I'll go get Sera and Varric." Cassandra said before turning and walking away before she could get an answer.

"I want Iron Bull to come along too. It would be good to have another warrior on the feild. Things will less likely come after us if there is two melee fighters." I called out to Cassandra which made her stop and turn back to me.

"Are you sure? We have been able to handle ourself before he showed up." Cassandra asked, rasing an eyebrow.

"And we will be able to handle ourselves better with him. I'll pack up and inform him. You notify the others." I respondeed and headed back inside to pack my things. I packed her books and runes and put my armour on. I put my new daggers into the leather sheaths on my sides and put my staff on my back. I finished packing up stuff to wash myself and polish and a sharpening stone for my wepons. When I was done I got up, threw her pack over her shoulder, and headed out.

Bull was outside the gates of Haven infront of a tent along with Krem. I walked up to him and cleared my throat to get his attention.

"Hey Boss! What can I do for you? Where ya headed?" Bull said whilst turning to me eyeing my pack.

"Pack up. We are heading out in a few minuets and youre coming along." I said, staring him in the eye. Even though I'm also a qunari I still had to angle my haid up to look at him. He was about 7' mabey a little less but still pretty tall. 

"Don't I get a say in it?" He chuckled. I smirked and turned to walk to Varric and Sera who were waiting on the rest of them.

"Five minuets, Bull! Better hurry up!" I shouted across my shoulder at him. We waited for everyone to join up and headed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time ever writing a fan-fiction so helpful comments are welcome. I'm going to update it every week. Thanks for reading and have a happy morning, afternoon, or evening wherever you are in the world!


	3. Asala

Ataashi's POV

We walked until the sun went down and set up a camp in the woods by the road. We were covered in blood from the group of bandits we came across on our way to the Hinterlands. We set up camp and Sera and Cassandra went to wash themselves whilst Varric and Bull set up tents. I went to set up a fire. I had one arms full of small logs and I pushed a fallen tree towards the camp with my foot. I set the armfull in the fire pit and pushed the log near the fire to act as seating. I lit the fire with a flick of my wrist. I plopped down by my bag and grabbed my brothers book. I started reading and felt sera lay on my lap and herd Bull sit next to me.

"Why are you reading that crap?" He asked pushing my book up so he could read the cover.

"It's not crap! And I read it for reasons." I pushed Bulls hand away and tried to read again. He was staring at me and I could feel it.

"Well read to the rest of the group, I'm sure some here would enjoy knowing they have a fan amung us." This caused Varric's head to shoot up from the fire. He looked at my book and chuckled.

"You know you could ask for a new one. That one looks like it's going to fall apart any second." I sighed. They're going to ask about it, I know it.

"This one is important that's why I don't what a new one." I set the book down knowing that I wouldn't be able to read it. Sera crawled away to get some sleep.

"What's important about it? It's not that great of a book." Varric said, looking away from the food he was cooking on the fire to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

I looked at everybody. Sera and Cassandra were asleep so it was only Bull and Varric who were staring at me. I shifted in my spot.The recent memory coming back to haunt me. I trusted Varric but I was still unsure about Bull. I didn't know if I should let him in on my life but part of me said that it was alright to talk about.

"I used to read it to my little brother, Asala. When we were about 13 and 11 we were walking down the road when it started to rain. There was only a house nearby and it had a stable attached to it so we hid in there and waited out the rain. He was scared of thunder so I looked for something to distract him and I found this on a barrel and started reading it to him. He loved it and we took it with us. I've had it ever since." I smiled sadly down at the book.

"Well if you want I can give you the next book. You could invite him over and read it to him sometime." Varric said and started eating his food.

"I wish I could but I can't..." Varric looked at me. "We were ambushed and he wanted to protect his big sister. I should have been paying attention I'm the one who is supposed to be looking out for things like that. He blocked a man who was trying to hit me with his axe and it hit him in the neck." I looked at them and pushed down the anger I had towards myself. I can deal with that later. We all sat in silence and Varric eventually left to go to sleep.

"I'll take first watch considering I've already slept" I said looking over to Bull. He still had his hand on my shoulder.

"I can watch too. It would be better for two people to watch considering we have someone important with us." My heart fluttered when he said I was important. The look on his face told me that I wasn't going to be able to argue with this. I didn't really want to either.

"M'kay you take to north end and I'll take the south." I said standing up and walking over. I needed to release the anger I had out on something and settled for a tree. I looked around and when I couldn't see anyone I started hitting it. My knuckles were starting to hurt and there was blood on the tree. I felt tears going down my face but still remained quiet. 'You let him die! You had one thing to do and you failed!' the words repeated over and over again. I was about to hit the tree again when I felt a hand grab my arms.

"This isn't watching out for danger." I heard Bull say quietly.

"Let me go.." I growled and tried to rip my hands out of his grasps which only made it tighter. He pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me to hold me still.

* * *  
Bull's POV

"This isn't watching out for danger" I said quietly. It wasn't her fault but she didn't know that yet. It must be a recent happening if she's acting like this because of it.

She tensed up and tried to free her hands. I just held on tighter.

"Let me go..." She growled. I ignored her and wrapped my arms around her.I could feel her horns jab into my chest.

"It isn't your fault that he wanted to protect you." I whispered. She just needed to let it out but hurting herself wouldn't make her feel better.

"Why do you care?" She said with frustration in her voice. I didn't have an answer for that. I didn't know why I was doing this I just felt like I should. I stood there with my brows frowning and she turned around to look at me. "Why do you care about what happens to me? Wouldn't your precious Qun frown upon you stopping a Tal-Vashoth from hurting herself!?" She whisper shouted. I looked at her. Tears were streaking down her cheeks. She has grey skin but not like mine, it's lighter. Her red hair falling out of the ponytail hung down past her shoulders some strands tangled around her horns. They reminded me of a Halla with the way they twisted back. Her bright green eyes were staring up at me with tears threatening to flood them and I was left speechless. This has never happened to me before. I didn't say anything but I pulled her to my chest. She was hesitant and pushed back but after a second she just let me hold her. I rubbed her back in a soothing motion and she started crying. Just letting it all out. This went on for a couple minutes before I felt her push away. I loosened his arms around her and she just stared at my chest.

"We should get some sleep." She said quietly, almost to quiet for me to hear.

We headed back to camp and she crawled into her sleeping bag. I woke up Cassandra for watch and went to sleep with thoughts of her in my head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapters. I'm still trying to get used to writing.


	4. Redcliff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *SPOILERS FOR IN HUSHED WISHPERS*

Ataashi's POV

We woke up in the morning and headed to the farms. I walked behind the rest of the group and kept an eye on the land around them. I saw Bull stop walking and start again when he was right beside me. I felt a little awkward about how he had seen me so vulnerable last night but I didn't show it. I smiled at the thought that someone might actually care for me other than the Valo-Kas. The sun was shining on my face and I could hear the birds chirping. It was a beautiful day for fighting.

We arrive to the farm and circled the perimeter. My hand crackled every time we were near a rift and a burning sensation went thru my veins . We shut the rifts down easily only leaving with a few scratches, burns and some loot. We headed to the farm to tell them that they wouldn't have to worry about the rifts anymore and set out for the nearest inquisition camp.

"There's still some time left in the day. I'm gonna go out hunting for the refugees at the crossroads." I said as I got up and grabbed my daggers from one of the tents.

"I'll go with you. Gotta make sure you don't get your ass handed to you by some rams." I heard Bull chuckle threw the tent. Sera started making kissing noises which caused made me laugh. I exited the tent and started to head off in a random direction and herd Bull follow behind. After the camp was out of sight I spotted a pack of rams and stopped to crouch.

"So why did you really want to come with me?" I asked, glancing at Bull.

"I like to hit things. Plus I wanted to make a bet." He said with a smirk on his face.

"Oh really? What's this bet on then?" I looked back at the rams who were ignoring us.

"I bet you ten gold that I can kill more rams than you." I laughed and covered my mouth with my hand to muffle it.

"So you think that I can only fight with a staff?" He nodded. "Fine ten gold it is. But I wanna know something about you too." During the time we had a Haven I had Leliana do some research on Bull and found out that he has been in the mercenary group for a few years now and a few rumors that he has had quite a few partners. I kept an eye on him a lot to but he would just talk to his Chargers and write reports. It was pretty boring so my mind always started wondering. I found myself wanting to know more about him. I had even started developing a crush on him even though I knew that would never happen. I just pressed it down and ignored it. He stopped and raised an eyebrow at me.

"You know you don't have to put it into a bet if you wanna know stuff about me, Boss. You just have to ask." He let out a small laugh and we charged at the rams. The first group we found was dead within minutes, with me at 3 and him at 5.

"Okay that's not fair you grabbed some of them when they tried to run!" I punched him in the arm.

"You didn't say there was anything against that." He said as he threw the rams over his shoulder. I sighed and picked up my kills.

"So I can just ask you anything?" He nodded "Okay then. Is it true you have had multiple partners?" He just laughed.

"Oh yeah. It's mostly just maids and stuff though. Let them bounce on top and I tell them that their tits look nice. What about you? Has the almighty Herald of Andraste ever been with someone?" He looked at me and cocked his head. I felt my cheeks warm as the image of me being pinned down by him popped into my mind. I shook my head.

"Well I've been with one person, Kaariss, It started when I was 17. It was fun and he got pretty good. But when I became friends with a girl named Riya who joined us to make potions she told me that she liked him so I stopped. I didn't want to mess with her chances of being with him. Even though we did it for three years we weren't anything serious just something to let off some steam. She didn't know about it until a couple months before the explosion and she just stopped talking to me. I asked Kaariss what happened and He said that she had asked him if anything had happened between us and he didn't think he should have to lie." We started looking for another pack of ram.

"I don't get why that would have bugged her. Maybe it was from jealousy. I mean you are pretty strong, you're quick on your feet, you're good with daggers and a staff, you're a good person, and you're beautiful." I looked at him confused. Did I just imagine that?

"Beautiful?" I repeated

"Well, um, yeah. Have you seen yourself? Almost every guy in Haven has been checking you out and even some of the girls. Sera even wants to be with you." He stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. We had stopped walking and were standing under a tree. I set down my rams and crossed my arms.

"So every guy? Do those guys include Qunari guys?" I asked, looking at him questioningly.

"Well maybe it does. I guess you will never know." He laughed and looked towards the setting sun. "We should head back"

"Yeah" I sighed "Thanks Bull"

"For what?" He said while picking up all the rams.

"For treating me like a person. You are the only one who doesn't treat me like I'm made of glass just because people think I'm the 'Herald of Andraste'" I smiled up at him.

"No problem Boss." We headed back to camp, killing a few more on the way. I ended up winning when I kept using my stealth cloak. The next day we gave the rams to the hunter, who was to shocked to speak, and headed back to Haven.

* * *  
Two weeks had gone by and it was just the same thing. Sending groups out on missions and going to close new rifts. We finally got a chance to do something different. We had enough influence to meet Grand Enchanter Fiona in Redcliff. When Bull, Varric, and I arrived we were greeted by an inquisition scout who wore a confused look on his face.

"They are notified of your arrival Herald but you should know that no-one was expecting it." He started walking towards the entrance and we followed.

"Did anyone else notice how things seem to have sped up back there? Or is this mark making me crazy?" I asked looking at my gloved hand and back to Varric and Bull. Bull was looking around at the people and Varric was just nodding.

"Yeah I noticed that too. Why do we always get put in crappy situations? Well it's mostly you but you get what I mean." Varric finally said. We headed off to the tavern and when we entered I went stone face. You don't want to show emotion to those you're negotiating with.

"Welcome, agents of the Inquisition. What has brought you to Redcliff?" Fiona asked.

"We are here because of your invitation back at Val Royeaux." I stated

"You must be mistaken. I haven't been to Val Royeaux since before the conclave." Varric looked up at me with confusion in his eyes.

"If it wasn't you who invited me here. Who was is?" I responded. This was not right. Judging by the look Varric was giving at me let me know that it wasn't just a dream. He had been there too.

"I.... I do not know. Now that you say it. I feel strange... Whoever... or whatever brought you here. The situation has changed. The free mages have already... pledged themselves to the service of the Tevinter imperium." I sighed. Of course this was going to happen. Nothing can ever go right if I am involved.

"Andraste's ass... I'm trying to think of a single worse thing you could have done. And I've got nothing." Varric said shaking his head.

"As one indentured to a magister, I no longer have the authority to negotiate with you." Fiona said

"Then tell me who can" I said

"Welcome, my friends! I apologize for not greeting you earlier." A man walked in with a younger man behind him.

"Agents of the Inquisition, allow me to introduce Magister Gereon Alexius." Fiona gestured towards the older man.

"The southern mages are under my command. And you are the survivor, Yes? The one from the fade? Interesting." He looked over me and narrowed his eyes.

"If you're leading the mages now, then let's talk. I'm sure we can come to an arrangement." I said calmly.

"It's always a pleasure to meet a reasonable lady." He gestured over to a nearby table and we sat down across from each other. He looked towards the young man "Felix, would you send for a scribe, please? Pardon my manners. My son Felix, Friends." Felix bowed and looked at me like he had something to say. He didn't say anything though. His father turned back to me and continued when his son turned away "I am not surprised you're here. Containing the Breach is not a feat that many could even attempt. There is no telling how many mages would be needed for such an endeavor. Ambitious, Indeed."

"Does that mean you'll lend your mages to our cause?" I asked him.

"There will have to be..." He never got to finish his thought because his son came stumbling towards them. I got up and caught him as he started to fall.

"Felix!" Alexius said.

"My lady, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me." Felix said as he steadied himself. He was clutching his side and he slipped something into my hand.

"Are you alright?" His father stepped towards him with worry all over his face.

"I'm fine, Father." He said. His father didn't believe him.

"Come, I'll get your powders. Please excuse me, friends. We will have to continue this another time. Fiona I require your assistance back at the castle" Alexius said as he walked away. He turned back around and looked at us. "I shall send word to the Inquisition. We will conclude this Business at a later date."

Bull, Varric, and I were staring at the small group of people as they left. Bull must of noticed that Felix was faking it too because he gave me a confused look. I looked around to see if they were alone and opened her hand. There was a note.

"Come to the Chantry. You are in danger."

We left the tavern and Varric was the first to speak up.

"Oo. Very Mysterious." He said

"It could be worth investigating. We need to be careful." I said and turned to the Chantry.

"Are you sure this isn't a trap Boss?" Bull asked. I could feel the eyes on the side of my head.

"We won't know unless we go and see now will we" I replied smiling up at him. He just shook his head. When we entered we were greeted with a man fighting demons with a staff. He was beating the living daylight out of them. When the last demon fell he turned to us and smiled. He looked very familiar.

"Good! You're finally here! Now help me close this, would you?" The mustached man said gesturing towards the rift. More demons appeared and we went to work. I danced around and killed any demon that came close to her. The mustached man seemed to have the same idea because he was doing that to. Bull crushed the last demon and I put my hand up to the rift. I gritted my teeth as they connected. It always felt like my arm was on fire. When it closed I turned to the mustached man. He looked around and then back at me.

"Fascinating. How does that work, exactly?" I looked at my hand and and shrugged which got a laugh out of him "You don't even know, do you? You just wiggle your fingers, and boom! Rift closes."

"Who are you?" I looked him over. He was dressed pretty warm so she assumed that he wasn't from here. Tevinter mabey? Its warm up there so he wouldn't be used to these temperatures.

"Oh! Getting ahead of myself, I see. Dorian of House Pavus, most recently of Minrathous. How do you do?" He bowed. Whats with all the bowing? I'm not the empress.

"Another Vint. Be cautious Boss." Bull said while stepping up to stand by me.

"Suspicious friends you have here" Dorian forced a laugh. "Magister Alexius was once my mentor, so my assistance should be valuable. As I'm sure you can imagine.

"You're betraying your old mentor because....?" I cocked my head to the side.

"Look, you must know there's danger. That should be obvious even without the note. Let's start with Alexius claiming the alliance of the mage rebels out from under you. As if by magic, yes? Which is exactly right. To reach Redcliff before the Inquisition, Alexius distorted time itself."

"I hope that's less dangerous than it sounds." I grumbled

"More. The rift you closed here? You saw how it twisted time around itself. Sped some things up and slowed others down. Soon there will be more like it, and they'll appear further and further away from Redcliff. The magic Alexius is using is very unstable, and it's unraveling the world." Dorian said.

"You're asking me to take a lot on faith." This seemed to irritate him as he shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

"I know what I'm talking about. I helped develop this magic. When I was still his apprentice, it was pure theory. Alexius could never get it to work. What I don't understand is why he's doing it? Ripping time to shreds just to gain a few hundred lackeys?"

"He didn't do it for them" Felix said as he jogged into the room.

"Took you long enough. Is he getting suspicious?" Dorian said. A smile found it's way back onto his face.

"No, but I shouldn't have played the illness card. I thought he'd be fussing over me all day. My father's joined a cult. Tevinter supremacists. They call themselves 'Venatori'. And I can tell you one thing: whatever he's done to them, he's done it to get to you." Felix said as he turned to me.

"How kind of him. And here I didn't get him anything." I tried to lighten the mood. It earned me a few chuckles from everyone.

"I hear fruit baskets are nice" Dorian said, smiling over at her. "You know you're his target. Expecting a trap is the first step in turning it to your advantage. I can't stay in Redcliff. Alexius doesn't know I'm here, and I want to keep it that way for now. But whenever you're ready to deal with him. I want to be there. I'll be in touch." He said as he walked away. "Oh and Felix? Try not to get yourself killed."

"There are worse things than dying, Dorian." Felix responded as he turned a different direction. We all left and headed back to camp to meet with Leliana, Cassandra, and Cullen.


	5. Time Travel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *SPOLERS FOR IN HUSHED WHISPERS*

Ataashi’s POV

We arrived to camp and informed them of all that happened. The next day a letter arrived for me from Alexius, inviting me to the castle in Redcliff. It was obviously a trap. We got into a long discussion about how they were going to get people into the castle to protect me and my party. Leliana remembered an escape route into the castle. We decided to send spies in instead of soldiers. Dorian eventually came over and offered help. That lead us to preparing to head to the castle. Bull kept grumbling about the magic and the Venatori and Varric just laughed at him. I kept looking over at Dorian who was walking with confidence radiating off of him. I could of  
sworn I've seen him before.

"Do I have something on my face?" Dorian asked "You have an odd look on yours and you keep staring at me." He wiped his face off and checked his hand.

"Sorry you just seem familiar. Does the Valo-Kas ring any bells to you?" He thought for a moment and then looked at me with a smile on his face.

"Yes, it does actually. I was dear friends with a man in the group named Kaariss. We lost touch a little while ago. I remember he would talk about a girl who could breathe fire. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, Well I was a part of the group until the conclave. I remember seeing you with him when we were in taverns a lot." I looked at Bull. He wasn't trying very hard to hide the fact that he was listening to us. I smirk and added. "By the way, Dorian, It's true. I'll have to show you after this if you're gonna come back with us to Haven." Bull and Varric stopped walking to look at me.

"When were you gonna tell us, Boss!?" Bull shouted with a wide eye.

"You never asked." Dorian just laughed and we continued walking and telling stories about our different adventures.

When we arrived Dorian snuck around and we were greeted with a couple Venatori and a scrawny man.

"The magister's invitation was for Lady Adaar only. The others will have to remain here." He stuck his nose up in the air.

"Where they go I go" I said staring him down. After a while he just nodded. We walked up the stairs and saw Felix, Alexius, and Fiona near the fire at the far end of the room. The scrawny man looked at Alexius.

"My lord magister, the agents of the Inquisition have arrived." Alexius stood up from his throne.

"My friend! It's so good to see you again. And your associates, of course. I'm sure we can work out some arrangement that is equitable to all parties."

"Are we mages to have no voice in deciding our fate?" Fiona stepped towards Alexius.

"Fiona, you would not have turned your followers over to my care if you did not trust me with their lives." He retorted.

"If the Grand Enchanter wants to be part of these talks, then I welcome her as a guest of the Inquisition." I looked over at Fiona and smiled.

"Thank you" Fiona bowed her head respectfully. Alexius turned and walked back to his throne in front of the fire and sat down.

"The Inquisition needs mages to close the Breach, and I have them. So, What shall you offer in exchange?" He said. He had no idea what was going on in these very walls.

"Nothing. I'm just going to take the mages and leave." I smirked.

"And how do you imagine you'll accomplish such a feat?" He said smugly.

"She knows everything, Father." Felix said as he turned to Alexius.

"Felix, what have you done?" His father looked at him and shook his head sadly.

"Your son is concerned that you're involved in something terrible." This seemed to make Alexius mad. He straightened up his posture and scowled at me.

"So speaks the thief. Do you think you can turn my son against me? You walk into me stronghold with your stolen mark, a gift you don't even understand, and think you're in control? You're nothing but a mistake." He stood up and walked to the edge of the stairs in front of him

"What do you know of the Divines death?" I took a step forward.

"It was the Elder One's moment, and you were unworthy even to stand in his presence."

"Father, Listen to yourself! Do you know what you sound like?" Felix said

"He sounds exactly like the sort of villainous cliché everyone expects us to be." Dorian came out from behind a pillar and walked over towards us and stood by me.

"I gave you a chance to be a part of this. You turned me down. The Elder One has power you would not believe. He will raise the Imperium from it's own ashes." Alexius glare now shifting to Dorian.

"That's who you serve? The one who killed the Divine? Is he a mage?" I asked.

"Soon he will become a god. He will make the world bow to mages once more. We will rule the Boric Ocean to the Frozen Seas."

"You can't involve my people in this!" Fiona shouted.

"Alexius, This is exactly what you and i talked about _never_ wanting to happen! Why would you support this?" Dorian stepped forward and Alexius turned away.

"Stop it, Father. Give up the Venatori. Let the southern mages fight the Breach, and let's go home." Felix said.

"No! It's the only way, Felix. He can save you!" Alexius turned back around to face his son.

"Save me?" Felix repeated.

"There _is_ a way. The Elder One promised. If I undo the mistake at the Temple..." Alexius looked at me.

"I'm going to die. You need to accept that" Felix frowned at his father.

"Seize them, Venatori! The Elder One demands this woman's life!" He shouted and pointed at me. I looked around and saw bodies fall and being replaced by Inquisition spies.

"Your men are dead, Alexius." I gestured around

"You... are a mistake! You never should have existed!" He held out his hand and an amulet was floating.

* * *  
A few hours later Dorian and I were back in front of Alexius. It seemed like only minutes had passed. I looked at Varric and Bull. I'm glad they didn't have to live with that memory.

"You'll have to do better than that." Dorian smirked and Alexius fell to his knees.

"Put aside all claim to Redcliffe, and we let you live." I said, my anger towards him was showing in my words.

Alexius sighed "You won. There is no point in extending this charade. Felix.."

Felix knelt beside his father and looked at him "It's going to be alright, Father."

"You'll die" Alexius said with a crack in his voice.

"Everyone dies" Felix stated with a frown. Two Inquisition scouts came up and took Alexius away.

"Well, I'm glad that's over with!" Dorian said with a smile to me. Fereldan soldiers marched into the hall. "Or not"

King Alistair and Queen Anora entered the room and looked at Fiona. "Grand Enchanter, we'd like to discuss your abuse of our hospitality."

Fiona stepped forward towards the couple "Your majesties."

"When we offered the mage sanctuary, we did not give them the right to drive our people from their homes. " Anora spoke with irritation in her tone.

Fiona folded her hands together. "King Alistair, Queen Anora, I assure you, we never intended..." Fiona started.

"In light of your actions, good intentions are no longer enough." Anora interrupted.

"You and your followers have worn out your welcome. Leave Fereldan, or we'll be forced to make you leave." Alister said.

"But... we have hundreds who need protections! Where will we go?" Fiona responded, her eyebrows frowning.

"The Inquisitions might be willing to take in the mages." I walked over to Fiona and stood by her side. "We would be honored to have you fight as allies at the Inquisition's side."

"A generous offer. But will the rest of the Inquisition honor it?" Fiona asked

"The Breach threatens all of Thedas. We cannot afford to be divided now. We can't fight it without you. Any chance of success requires your full support." I stated.

"We accept. It would be madness not to. I will gather my people and ready them for the journey to Haven. The Breach will be closed. You will not regret giving us this chance" Fiona said then walked out.

I turned towards my friends and smiled as I looked them over. Bull was standing there holding my staff and Varric had a smile on his face. I could feel tears burning the back of my eyes. Her friends were alive.

"We should probably head back to camp. Whatever happened to you two should be reported." Varric said.

I turned to Dorian "Are you coming back with us? It would be nice to have you around." He came over to me and put his arm around my shoulder.

"I would love to! Is there a library in Haven?." Dorian and I started blabbing on about all types of things as we walked back to camp. From the weird people we have met to the best books we have found. He nudged me every time he caught Bull staring at her but when I looked at him he would turn away.

When we got to camp I wrote a report and informed them that Dorian would be joining.

"So, what happened to you two while you were gone? For us it was only a minute but the way you looked seemed like you had seen a lot." Varric said as the four of us sat near the fire. I ran my hand through my hair and pulled out the leather holding it up to let it fall down my back.

"We were sucked into a rift and sent a year into the future. We woke up in the dungeon and went looking for you two. When we found Bull, he was singing '300 bottles of beer' and when we found you, you were humming something. Your eyes were red and glowing and you had a red glow surrounding you. They were using your bodies to grow red lyrium." I paused and took a shaky breath and looked at my hands. I couldn't keep up the charade that I was fine and talk about this. I felt Bulls hand rub my back and relaxed a little.

"We found Leliana and she was being tortured. We freed her and hunted down Alexius. Felix was basically a zombie by then, just barely alive. Leliana killed Felix and we killed Alexius. You and Bull went out and bought us some time by fighting the demons and Venatori that were coming after us. They burst through the doors and threw your lifeless bodies onto the ground beside them. Leliana only had a few arrows but used every last one and started beating them with the bow. We went threw another rift after Dorian opened it with the amulet and then we were back. You know the rest." Silent tears were going down my face and falling onto my folded hands now.

I didn't tell them everything. I didn't tell them how I admitted that I had feelings for Bull, to Bull, how I told him I wanted to be more than friends, wanted to fight with him by my side every day, that I wanted to be tied up and scream his name in pleasure and let all of Haven know that I am his. I didn't say how he told me that he felt the same. I didn't tell them that we kissed like we were going to die, because at that moment I honestly thought we were. I didn't say how before they left that I ran to him for one last kiss. I didn't tell them that Bulls words were still ringing in my head. _'We'll be together someday, I promise'_.

Bull pulled his hand away and rubbed his face. "Damn." He said.

We all ate in silence and we all picked out a place to sleep. Dorian and I picked out a spot by the fire to look up at the stars and talk about old times. I found out that him and Kaariss were good friends and they had an occasional fling. He also told me how even though he drank wine in public he still enjoyed a Fereldan beer every now and then.

"So are you ever going to tell him?" Dorian whispered when everyone was in their tents.

"Not yet. If future him keeps his promise then I will." I said turning my head to be able to lay down. I looked at my friend. He was staring at the stars with a small smile forming on his lips.

"If you're going to sleep next to me I have to warn ya." He turned to look at me and raised his eyebrow, the smile still on his face. "I have to cuddle with something and I gave my extra pillow to Bull so he could sleep comfortably." I said and waited for a response.

"Well what are friends for?" He chuckled as he put his arm under my neck and I wrapped my arm around his torso, pulling him closer. I dozed off soon after that.


	6. The Fire Breather

Dorian's POV

I couldn't sleep. I knew she was going to have nightmares about what we saw. We both had to watch as people we cared about died, anyone with a sane mind would have nightmares about that. I heard someone get out of a tent and turned to see who it was. The fire was low but it left enough light to show the large qunari stretching. Bull looked at us confused. She seemed to confuse him a lot.

"You have the pillow she usually cuddles with, so it seems that I'm the replacement." I whispered. Bull nodded in understanding and put another log in the fire.

"There's more she isn't talking about isn't there." Bull said as he sat down by us.

"She isn't ready yet. There would be some things you wouldn't want to talk about if you were there." I said. She stirred a little and held me tighter. She was very strong and starting to crush me as she put more weight on me. We waited a bit to start talking again to make sure she was asleep. "Technically you were there, a future you. It hurt her to see the people she cares about like that." I was trying to hint at what happened without giving anything away. Bull stayed quiet and stared into the fire.

"How was I handling it?" He asked after a while.

"You were mortified. Very hesitant to trust that it was actually us. You didn't want to talk about what happened to you. You only gave us snippets of what happened. There was an army of demons and then you just kept repeating 'I watched you die' In different ways when we found you. You were pretty quiet after than. Anything that came near her though you were quick to attack it. Varric told us a little of what they did to everyone in the cells, there were only three people left in there when we arrived, but he said that they made you ingest lyrium and locked you inside a cell with it. They were wanting you to grow lyrium and then mine it from your corpse. Grand Enchanter Fiona was almost dead with half her body covered in the stuff. It was a horrendous sight, really."

Bull looked away from the fire and over to me. "Must of been bad if I was scared. Was she?"

"Terrified. She didn't show it, of course. She wanted to be strong but if you payed enough attention to her hand you could tell she was freaking out. She was twirling her daggers, a nervous habit." I explained.

Ash started to stir again, her brows furrowing and tears started to gather on lashes and she was mumbling.

"I knew this would happen. Will you help? I can't move my arms, you see. She is squeezing me." I looked to Bull and he came over and shook her awake.

"No!" She yelled and bolted upright. She looked around and I stretched my arms and watched as Bull pulled her into his chest.

"Shh. It's okay, Boss" Bull said, stroking her hair. I smiled. It was obvious that Bull cared about her, He just couldn't do anything about it. She was still crying. Her shoulders were shaking and her sobs were muffled by her hands. I looked up and saw the eastern sky starting to brighten. It was about 4 in the morning. I turned back to them and Ash was no longer crying. She was just sitting there quietly in Bull's arms staring at me with wide eyes.

"I should probably get some sleep. Are you okay with watching her?" I asked Bull. He nodded and I headed inside Bulls tent to let them rest.

* * *

Bull's POV

I was tense with her in my arms. I didn't know what I was feeling because this has never happened to me before. I started to move her to sit next to me. I felt her arms wrap around me.

"Please don't" She whispered. I stopped and put her back in my lap.

"That bad, Boss?" I said and felt her shake her head.

"It's Atashi, or Ash. Please don't call me boss." I could feel her horns hit my arm as she looked up at me. I felt the corners of my mouth turn up involuntarily.

"So you're dragon?" I said, I was trying to get her mind off the dream. "When are you gonna breathe fire? You told Dorian you were going to show him. Is it that magic crap?"

"Well it involves me having to get tipsy so there is alcohol on my breathe and yes it involves the 'magic crap'." She made her voice low when repeating my words to try to imitate me. "And I can show you when we get back but if you wanna see it so bad then you're buyin"

"I don't sound like that" I laughed and relaxed, still holding her close to me with my arms gently draped around her. "I'll buy you drinks so you can show me how you got the name."

"Actually it's the other way around, Bull. I learned the trick to match my name." She laughed. I forgot that Tal-Vashoth get their names from parents.

"Do you wanna tell me the rest of what happened?" I said without thinking. I could feel her tracing one of my scars with her calloused hand.

"Not yet." She stayed silent for a while and I could feel her continuing to trace the scars that littered my chest. The sensation was calming. I have never felt this relaxed around someone ever since I was a kid. Not yet? So in the future perhaps.

"You like scars, huh?" I chuckled. She hummed in response.

"Scars are like trophies. Marking times someone has tried to kill you but failed. I believe it's a sign of strength." She said. I never thought of them that way. I looked down at her and felt my heart beat faster. She must of felt it too because she looked up at me and smiled. I looked back at the fire and they sat in silence for a couple hours before people started waking up. Cassandra was the first up and she gave us a weird look. I felt her push away and get up. I looked up at her and she was smiling at me.

"I'll tell you someday, I promise" She whispered as she searched through her pack and pulled out a sharpening stone and picked her daggers up from under the pillow Dorian was using a few hours before.

"I'll hold you to it then." I watched her as she sharpened her daggers. The morning sun was making her red hair seem brighter and made it easier to see the swirls on the obsidian caps on her horns. I huffed, I really needed to get back Haven and do something to get her off my mind.

* * *

Ataashi's POV

We left camp once everyone was awake and packed up. The walk there took a couple more day and on the last day it started raining.

"Oh dear, The mud is getting all over my buckles." Dorian looked down and fround. He had been trying to step on rocks but with me walking beside him some mud had gotten on his pants. I stepped in front of him and bent down a little.

"Get on my back if you're gonna complain about it." I laughed "Just watch the horns if you want to keep your pretty eyes." I felt him take the staff off of my back before climbed on, putting his head on my shoulder. I started running to catch up to the group and Dorian squealed in surprise. I came up beside Bull and looked at him still laughing a little. When Bull looked at us he shook his head with a smile. I looked at his axe and noticed that it had a few cracks in it and Dorian seemed to notice to.

"Remember he said to just keep flirting? Well, What's a good sign to show someone you like them than to make them a new weapon? He would use it everyday when he went out fighting with you." Dorian whispered in my ear. I nodded and looked back at Bull, who was looking around at the trees.

"What is your favorite stone?" I asked him. Bull looked at me confused and thought for a second.

"Dawnstone. It made beautiful weapons." Bull responded with a smirk. "Why?"

"Don't worry about it, tiny." I chuckled. He shook his head at the use of Varric's nickname for him. The terrain started to turn white with snow and we knew that we were close to Haven. Dorian Hopped off my back and handed me back my staff.

When we arrived everyone parted and I headed off the the merchants and bought all the dawn stone and obsidian I could and snuck off to the smiths. I went the long way around, avoiding Bull so he wouldn't know what I was doing and got to work building a greatsword. It had a dawstone blade and an obsidian handle. It was beautiful. Now I just needed to get it to surprise Bull. I looked over at his tent and saw that he had his back facing me and was talking to Krem. I set the sword down and waved my arms wildly at Krem to get his attention. This earned me a few weird looks from passerbyers. I would too if I saw a 6'2 qunari with a glowing hand waving her arms wildly as she sat on the ground behind a stone fence. Krem looked over at me and I put her finger to her lips and motioned him over. I had to slouch down and rest my elbows on the cloth wrapped sword that I had set on the ground to hide when Bull turned to see what he was looking at. After a minute I saw Krem come into the smithing area and he came over to me.

"I told him that he should go looking for you, that you had something to tell him." He shrugged. "What do you need, your worship?" I stood up

"Well, One, for you to call me Ash. And two, I need you to give him this when he gets back. Don't say anything just give it to him." I handed him the sword wrapped in a cloth. He took it and looked back at me with a smile as he moved the cloth back and saw the pink blade.

"You better go find him, your.. Ataashi" Krem said and walked away. I ran back through the gates and found my door open. I walked in and he was sitting on the bed waiting. I leaned on the wall separating the house and crossed my arms.

"Well, hello handsome" I said. I decided that I was going to try flirting with him more.

"Thanks. Figured you'd come back. So you need to tell me something?" Bull looked at me and chuckled.

"Yeah actually. You were gonna buy me some drinks remember?" I pushed off the wall and headed towards the door. I could hear him jog up next to me.

We bought a bottle of Carnal, some food, grabbed a blanket, and headed out to the frozen river. We got a few weird looks as we walked threw the training field but I didn't care. We got to the river and walked to the dock. I didn't want to scare people with a drunk mage. I slid around on the ice and steadied myself on Bulls arm. I had even managed to fall on my arse, my face heated up as Bull laughed and helped me up.

"I'm more comfortable around fire than ice." I groaned and stretched my back. I laid the blanket down on the end of the dock and sat down.

"Oh really? I never would've guessed." He chuckled. He sat down next to me and handed me the bottle and started eating.

"So this is like a picnic, in't it." I said and took a swig. It wasn't strong enough to get me completely drunk but it could give me a buzz. I handed it back to Bull.

"So, you never told me how you joined the Valo-Kas." He was looking at me. I could feel his stare on the side of my face. I looked at him and took a drink.

"Well I was fourteen." His eye widen at the fact.

"Thats pretty young to be joining a mercenary group for a Vashoth." He said. I nodded and looked at the people in the distance.

"Yea well, If you wanna know the full story I'm gonna have to go back further." I set the bottle down after realizing I was still holding it and folded my hands on my crossed legs. When he didn't say anything I took at as a sign to continue. "Ten years ago our house was set on fire. Never saw who did it. I remember ma handing me her necklace and telling me to take Asala and leave. 'Never come back and promise you'll keep your brother safe' She told me. We were moving around for a year when the Valo-kas found us. Kaariss found us hiding behind a bush. He was, what, 15 at the time? Only a year older than me. I got scared and set his foot on fire. He would never let me live that down." I laughed and looked at Bull. He was watching me silently, absorbing the information given to him. The bottle was half full now when I took another drink. "Ashaad taught me how to fight with daggers and Ashaad two taught me how to use my magic to heal. Taarlok help me be able to manipulate people to get what I want, but I don't like having to do that. Makes me feel like a... like a monster. When I turned 17 I started joining them on jobs. Two years later Asala was 17 and he joined. When he was only able to do for two and a half years. I was 21 when we were ambushed." I leaned my head on his shoulder and he just sat there. The food was gone and there was still some alcohol left in the bottle.

"So you're 23 now?" He asked

"Yepp" I responded, popping the p. He just hummed in response and downed the rest of the drink. The sun had started setting. "You still wanna see me breathe fire?" I sat up and looked at him. His eyes went straight to her and nodded eagerly. I laughed and stood up. The air was getting colder and it was biting my bare arms. I took a few steps away and rubbed my pointer and thumb together. A small fire started from them. I looked back at Bull who was staring at me and I smiled.

"Ready?" I asked. He smiled and I took a deep breathe.

* * *

Bull's POV

She exhaled and I thought it was the most beautiful thing. The alcohol caught the flame and it really looked like she was breathing fire. She was standing there leaning forward on a bent leg. Her pose resembled an Ataashi really well. I looked her over when she stopped and turned around to look at me. She had her hair up in a bun with some strands hanging around her face. She was wearing a red top that had the sleeves ripped off and it made her skin seem almost white, some grey leggings, a leather belt that held her daggers, and matching leather fingerless gloves. I started imagining her hands wrapped around my horns and my lips on hers, her strong legs wrapped around my..

"Hellooo?" I snapped out of my daydream and looked at her. She had a grin on her face. "Enjoying the view?" She asked.

"I think we need to get back. It's getting late. People are probably gonna think I've converted you to the Qun or murdered you or something." I chuckled and tried to get up but my brace got caught on my pants and I fell back down.

"Woah there, big guy!" Ash laughed and unhooked my ankle from my pants. She stepped onto the ice picked up the blanket, I picked up the plate and bottle. She held onto my arm. I wrapped my arm around her to keep her steady. We walked back to the Chargers tent and she kept making puns with his name.

"You know what? I don't wanna wait. Where's Krem?" I looked at her confused as she entered the chargers tent. I could know everything about everyone, they were like an open book. But she was different. She was like trying to read a book that was in a different language and written backwards. "Krem wake up! Where is it?" I heard her ask. I could hear Krem mumbling and things moving around. "Thanks Krem Puff" Krem groaned at the nickname and She came back out and handed me something wrapped in cloth. I unwrapped it and my smile grew.

"This is _beautiful_ , Ataashi!" I lifted up the sword and inspected it. Its dawstone blade was jagged and sharp but had smooth lines. the handle had dragon wings on it and was perfectly weighted. "Where did you get it?" I looked at her and she was smiling up at me.

"I made it when we got back. I noticed that your axe was starting to crack so I thought you could use a new weapon." I pulled her into a hug.

"This is amazing! Thank you!"

"I also thought that a new weapon would be handy tomorrow." I pulled away and looked at her confused.

"Tomorrow? We just got back." She shook her head and stepped back.

"Yea I know, We have the mages now and they have decided that we should go up to close the breach as soon as possible. I was wanting you to come with me."

"Well that's what you hired me for isn't it?" I said. I found myself wanting to stay. This place was nice even though we stayed in a tent. The bar always had my favorite drink in stock and there were plenty of people who wanted a casual fuck. I've made friends here that weren't other spies. I could just casually talk to and joke around with and be myself around them. Like Varric and Sera and... Ataashi. 'Friend, Bull. That's all she can be.' I told myself.

"Well yea. I guess so. I'll see you in the morning" She patted me on the arm and headed to her cabin. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.


	7. The March of the Lyrium Soldiers

Ataashi's POV

 

We arrived at the temple and I was beyond terrified. Last time I was here I was unconscious for three days and that was just suspending the growth of it. Bull, Dorian, and Varric were with me. I left my staff at haven and brought my daggers instead. I twirled on in my hand and stopped when I noticed Bull and Dorian looking at me. I know that Dorian knows about my habit but did he tell Bull? I put them in their sheathes and turned to Dorian. Bull had gone and started talking to Varric and tired to figure out what to expect since him and Dorian weren't here the first time.

"Dorian." I started. He looked up at me. "I just want you to know that you have been an amazing friend. If I don't make it out of here I want you to tell Bull.." There was a sharp smacking sound and my cheek stung. The sound got Bull's and Varric's attention. I looked at Dorian with wide eyes.

"Don't you ever talk like that!" He shouted. Bull and Varric walked over to find out what happened. "You are going to promise me that you _will_ walk out of here with us and we will all get some drinks and hide in your cabin and forget about this whole mess." I just looked at the three of them and stood there in silence for a while. Varric had a sad look on his face, understanding why I didn't think I was going to make it. "She should promise us that right?" He looked at Bull and Varric. Bull was the only one that nodded. Dorian and Bull looked at Varric and I.

"Last time.." Varric started, Dorian interrupted him.

"No, She is stronger now. I don't care what happened _last_ time. _This_ time we are all going to get drinks and hide in her room for the rest of the night and just be friends." Dorian looked back at me and softened his expression. "Promise us that." He put a hand on my cheek.

"I.. I promise." I forced a smile and Dorian pulled my head down to place a kiss on my forehead. I straightened up and looked towards the poorly closed rift. "Let's get this over with. Have your weapons ready, demons will be drawn to it when I reopen it." We walked down to the rift and stood in front of it. I was standing between the rift and everyone else. Solas was talking to the mages and I tried to calm my nerves. They won't do me any good to have them acting up here.

"Open the rift whenever you're ready" Solas said as he walked to stand by Varric. I looked back and saw that Cassandra was standing by Dorian and Bull was in the middle. They all readied their weapons and I looked at the rift. I closed my eyes and held my hand up. They instantly connected. The veins in my arm felt like fire had replaced the blood. I was pushed back when it opened and heard a deep laugh. I jumped to my feet and grabbed my daggers. A pride demon was standing in front of us with a wicked smile stretched across its face. We charged at it. It felt like it had been hours before the smile came off of its face when it realized that it was going to die. It yelled and fell to the ground. The fade wrapped around its body and brought it back into the rift.

I threw my hand up without a second thought. I just wanted this to end. I wanted to not have to worry about anything anymore. The pain of closing the breach was still excruciating but not as much as the first time. I grabbed my left arm with my right to keep it up but soon I fell to my knee and cried out in pain behind gritted teeth. I need to be strong. She pushed herself up and glared at the rift. It was almost over. I looked at my friends out of the corner of my eye and some of them couldn't look at me. It's probably obvious that I was in a lot of pain. I stumbled back as the connection broke. The rift flew up into the Breach and it closed. There was now a scar in the sky where it had been. I smiled, still staring at the scar. I was okay. I felt a bunch of hands on my shoulders and faintly heard cheering. I snapped out of my amazement and looked around. Dorian, Bull, Varric, and Cassandra were surrounding me.

"Let's head back to Haven and have you hold up to that promise, Herald." Varric said as he smiled up at me.

"Yeah. Lets." I my cheeks were hurting but I couldn't stop smiling even if I'd try. We walked out of the temple ruins and headed back to Haven to celebrate.

"So how do you feel?" Varric said as we entered Haven. People were already dancing around the fire and drinking and just enjoying the great night.

"I feel like I need to get some drinks in me." I laughed. "But seriously. I feel good. Kinda tired but having the feeling of your veins being set on fire and all your muscles tensing up will do that to you." I looked over at Bull and Dorian. They were smiling at me, relief clearly visible in their eyes.

"We should get the drinks to head to your cabin. They should have some Dragon's Piss in there. It's pretty strong stuff if we are going to be forgetting tonight." Bull said. I nodded and we entered the tavern. I looked around and everyone was staring at us. Some of the locals were eyeing Bull with lust in their eyes and some were staring at me the same. We sat down at the bar and ordered a bunch of the good drinks. Bull gave me a weird look when I asked for some fereldan beer and Dorian just shook his head and laughed. A girl walked up to us and she was a little tipsy. She leaned onto his arm and tried to look cute and batted her eyelashes. Bull was pretending not to notice as we waited for the bartender to grab our drinks.

"Hey, some of my friends said they've been with you and that it was amazing. Wanna head back to my place" I laughed into my hand. This girl wasn't being subtle at all. Bull just ignored her and looked at us.

"How are we gonna split the cost?" He asked. The girl got an annoyed look on her face and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hellooo? I'm standing right here! I know you can here me." She said.

"Yea we can all hear you. We are just trying to enjoy the day." Varric chuckled. The drinks had arrived by now but no one moved. I got my coin purse out and dumped its contents out of the bar.

"Well, Its seems like I'm broke. I have 29 gold and a rock" I said. The small girl next to Bull huffed.

"So you're going to ignore me for some group of freaks?" I burst out laughing. This girl was really trying to piss us off just because Bull wanted to hang out with us. Varric payed the rest for the drinks and we all grabbed them.

"Just ignore it, Bull." I said and stood up and walked out to head to my cabin with my friends not far behind. We headed into my cabin and settled down. I pulled the chest over to use as a table and set some drinks on it. Dorian lit the fire and sat by me with his back leaning against the wall. I sat beside my bed and leaned against it. Bull sat on my other side, facing the area between Dorian and the fire. Varric was sitting between Bull and the fire.

"What's in here?" Dorian asked, eyeing the chest in curiosity.

"Just stuff that my old mercenary group sent me. The twins made me my daggers. Kaariss sent me a book of his poems if you ever want to read them." I said and we all grabbed a bottle of something and opened them up. "This is nice."

"I would enjoy that. Maybe tomorrow when we are all nursing our hangovers." Dorian said and drank his beer.

"I'm gonna need a bigger bed if we are all gonna sleep here." I laughed

"I doubt any of us are gonna want to leave tomorrow." Varric stated and everyone hummed in agreement. I froze. I could hear shouting. They gave me weird looks. Their eyes went wide as the warning bells started going off.

"Looks like our party is postponed till a later date." Varric groaned. We grabbed our weapons and rushed out after putting out the fire. Cullen was running past and we joined up with him and we ran to the gate.

"Whats going on?" I asked.

"There is an army on their way here, ser. We believe that they are here to attack us." a sout answered.

"Under what banner?" Cullen shouted.

"None, ser." We heard banging on the door

"I can't help if you don't let me in!" A voice said. I rushed down and two agents opened the doors. There were templar bodies everywhere and a boy stood in the middle. Blood was dripping from his daggers and he looked up at me from under a large brimmed hat.

"They're coming to attack you." The boy said.

"What's your name? Why are they coming to attack us? What are you doing here?" I asked

"My name is Cole. I've come to warn you that the red templars are here to kill you. Their leader isn't happy that you've taken his mages away from him. He wants you dead." Cole spoke calmly. Like he didn't have an army marching towards his location.

"Who is there leader?" Cullen asked Cole. He pointed off into the distance at a man... thing standing on a cliff.

"Crap"


	8. Cold

Bull's POV

No one was celebrating anymore. They were all heading to the chantry. Some soldiers rushed to where Ataashi, Cullen, and a boy were standing when Cullen yell at them to ready the catapults. Some went to the other catapult and the rest went to guard the people. We should of know it wasn't going to be this easy. I watched as the boy turned and pointed to something at the distance. Ataashi motioned us over but kept watching the area around us.

"The Elder One is here brought his red templars to attack us. The plan is to wipe as many out with some avalanches and then take the rest out as they get here." Cullen said. The first wave of templars came and we destroyed them. Some of them didn't even look human anymore. Their skin was all mangled and they had lyrium coming out of their skin. Some of them were even as tall as me! After a while the soldier who was manning the catapult shouted at us.

"The other catapult isn't firing. They might need help!" She said and started loading it up again. Ataashi was already heading towards the other and we hear a pained roar. This thing was as tall as a building and was completely covered in the red stuff. It's face was twisted around in pain as it swung its hammer like arm. It turned out that the others were trying to fight off a bunch of templars so they were unable to fire the catapult. When we couldn't see anymore coming we started to run back to the gate. I noticed that Ataashi wasn't following us and turned around. She was staring in the sky with wide eyes.

"Ataashi, we need to move now!" I grabbed her arm and pulled her to the gates. That's when I heard it. The dragon roared and destroyed the catapult in front of the gate with lyrium.

"Bull, They have an Archdemon. It's beautiful but how did they get an Archdemon!" She said as we entered the gate. Cullen and his men shut it behind us and the archdemon flew over the town. This was going to be fun.

"Whatever time you bought us that dragon has taken it back. We need to head to the chantry and protect the people." Cullen shouted over the fire and fighting. I saw Sera running up to us.

"Oi! I know you don't have time to go back to your cabin. I'm gonna go get the stuff your people sent. I don't know what it is. Tell me quick and I'll take it to the chantry." Sera said quickly. Ash smiled and hugged her and proceeded to tell her everything she got and told her about the chest. Sera ran off once Ash pushed her towards the cabin.

We rushed towards the chantry, chopping down every templar we saw and saving the trapped people. When more started coming we headed into the chantry. Cullen came up to us with a worried look on his face.

"The only way to stop them is to bury them." He said. They were overrunning Haven. My eye went wide at what he was suggesting.

"They're in Haven. To burry them would mean burying everyone in Haven." Ash said quietly. I looked to everyone here. There were some injured, some were crying, and others were just trying to help out as best as they could. Dorian had been drug off to heal the wounded and Varric was trying to help calm some people down. I saw the boy and Chancellor Rodrick sitting on the chair by us. The boy looked to the Chancellor and smiled.

"Yes, that would be perfect." He looked towards us. "He knows a way out. He can help." Rodrick started telling us about the escape route and how Andraste showed him so he could help. Soon there was only one question left unanswered.

"Who's going to man the catapult?" I asked. Maybe one of the soldiers would be willing to.

"I will." Ash looked up from her hands and around at everyone.

"No, we can not send you out there to die!" Cullen whisper shouted.

"He wants me. If I don't go out there and die he will continue to hunt me down. I will put more lives in danger and I can not have that! I don't care if you don't want me to. I am going and that is the end of discussion." She turned and started to leave but stopped when I started following her.

"Stay, Bull. Stay and protect these people." She looked at me over her shoulder.

"You hired me as a front line bodyguard. I'm gonna do my job." I said and she turned around.

"Bull, I can't have you out there. If you're wanting to talk about the reason you were hired then, yes, you are supposed to be a bodyguard. So use your body to guard those people." She wouldn't look at me.

"They have an army..." I started.

"And if you come with me you will die, Bull. Just.. If you promise to go with them I promise I will try to find you. I promise that I will try to survive it." She looked up at me and had tears brimming her eyes. I nodded my head and she didn't move.

"I promise." I said and with that she ran out the doors.

"All right everyone grab what supplies you can and get ready to leave. Leliana, have your scouts help get the injured out of here. Cole, you take the Chancellor and lead everyone out of here." Cullen started ordering people around as soon as the doors shut. Dorian, Varric, and Sera looked up at me in confusion. I just shook my head and walked towards Sera and Varric.

"Where's Ataashi?" Varric asked.

"She promises that she will come back. We need to move before this whole place gets buried." I said and started walking to where this Cole kid and Rodrick were.

We got up to the mountain and I looked down to the last catapult and I could see the archdemon and a man standing there and A body standing on the platform of the catapult.

"Bull! Come on they aren't going to wait for you. She promised she will come back and she will. Lets go." I heard Dorian shout at me. I turned around and walked to the group ahead of me. Dorian, Sera, and Varric were waiting. I grabbed the chest from Sera and we started walking towards the rest. I heard a crash on the mountain and the snow fall.

* * *

We had arrived to a clearing and set up camp. I set up a tent and had Leliana send word to the Chargers to stay put, notified them of what happened, and told them that I will inform them of the next location the Inquisition sets up shop. I still had her chest and was staring at it when Dorian and Sera came in.

"Cold, isn't it?" She said as they sat down. I just nodded my head. "She promised she'd be back, yeah? She's good at keeping her promises."

"What's in here?" I asked and looked up at her. She shrugged.

"Blanket, Letter, Books, and a box with some weird word on it. Dunno how to say it." She said and opened it. She took the blanket out and Dorian grabbed a book and a small smile formed on his face and he started reading. I looked them confused.

"Why are you guys here?" I asked.

"We're your friends. Did you really think we were going to let you be alone?" Dorian said looking up from the poem book.

"I don't know." I put my head in my hands. I felt a foot hit me and looked up to see that Sera was on her back and her foot my on my leg.

"Don't think that you're the only one missing her." She was just staring at the top of the tent. Dorian had laid down but was still reading. "She knew she was going to be away a while. She told me to keep ourselves busy with the stuff in here." I looked in the box and it was filled with journals, trinkets, and some of her clothes. She sat up and started taking things out of the box and sorting them into piles. Making the wooden and stone figures stand on top of books. The wooden figures were as large as her hands and had a lot of detailing on them.

"Do you think she made these?" Sera asked and held up a male figurine. "Looks like you." She handed it to Dorian. He took it and studied it.

"Well it has my name on the foot so I guess it is me. Who else does She have?" He looked over at Sera. I watched as she took more out. There were a bunch of qunari, Most of them were wearing mercenary armor. There was also an elf that had Sera's blonde choppy hair, another human that wore krem's armor and a dwarf that had a crossbow on his back in there. I grabbed one of the qunari ones and looked at it. It was a male and had brown hair that reminded me of Krem's. He had a broken horn and the other was curved back and came around in a circle. He had Blue eyes and a bow on its back. He had the same skin tone as Ataashi. Well as close as she could get it with the paint provided. There was even a few pale pink marks indicating scars. I looked on the foot. 'Asala' it said.

"Here's her brother." I handed it back to Sera who looked him over. Dorian had joined in on looking at the figures.

"Ah Kaariss, I could recognize him anywhere." He was holding one of the male figures. He handed him to me and I looked him over. So this is who got to be with Ataashi. His horns were going back but curved upwards and he had some black hair between them. He was tan and had silver eyes. I handed him back and grabbed another one. I laughed and Dorian looked over at me. It was a little me! When he saw it he smiled and muttered something under his breath. It must of been recent because it had his new sword on it. I set it down and grabbed another.

"Know we know who she's talking about in her stories. We won't have to keep guessing." I said and looked over the female in my hand. She was in a long blue dress and her red hair fell down to her waist. Sera crawled over to look at the figure.

"Looks like her." She said and I nodded. It had a brown and silver necklace and the same skin and eyes as Ataashi. The only different thing was the horns, They were cut off.

"She was probably a Tamassran before she left. They tend to cut off their horns so they don't get in the way." I said and Sera hummed and grabbed a male qunari. He looked more like Asala. His hair was in a ponytail and he wore enchanter's robes and had a staff on his back. She has never really talked about her dad and blamed it on him disappearing when she was 8. I looked at the feet of the couple 'Saylene' and 'Orazim'.

"Those necklaces look like hers" Sera said and grabbed the box that was still sitting in the chest. I looked at it and set the figures down. "What does it say?"

"Kadan" I said quietly. Sera just looked at me confused. I sighed and explained "It means my heart." She opened it and pulled out the necklace and looked at the underside of the lid.

"Dragons tooth cut in two" She said.

"So no matter how far apart we will always be together." I continued. I thought this stuff was just fairy tales. Vashoth actually do this? I looked at Sera and she still was confused. "The dragon tooth is something we give someone we love. The saying is _A dragon's tooth cut in two so no matter how far apart, we will always be together._ " Sera's face fell.

"So you mean she already has a love?" She pulled the necklace from the box. I shrugged in response.

"Dorian do you.." I looked up to see that he had fallen asleep.

"She's amazing, yeah? Should of seen this coming. She's still a good friend to have around though. If she does come around." Sera slouched down and started to put things away. I nodded. She crawled to the other side of the tent and laid down, wrapped in Ash's blanket. "We should get some sleep. She might be back tomorrow." I could hear the doubt in her voice but ignored it and laid down in the sleeping bag. I couldn't sleep though. Why was she flirting if she was already with someone? Why was I feeling weird about the new information? It wouldn't of happened anyways. I belong to the Qun. Even if every day I spent with her made being Tal-Vashoth not seem so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to do some angst. idk if this counts as angst though.


	9. Chapter 9

Dorian's POV

I went into the tent and saw that Sera and Bull were just sitting there and talking quietly. I sat down and picked up a book.

"Oi, sparkles, you knew Ash before this mess, yeah?" Sera said. I nodded slowly, not entirely sure where she was going with it.

"You know who she likes and don't likes, right?" I nodded again and squinted my eyes at them

"Does she have a love right now?" I looked at her confused. Why were they asking me this?

"That's something you'd have to talk to her about. I do enjoy gossip but not when it involves love lives." I got up and left the tent again. I'll never get used to the cold. I went over to Varric who was sitting by the fire.

"Any news? It's been almost 3 days. She should be here by now." I sat down next to him. The sun was starting to go down again. Varric just forced a smile as he looked up at me. I didn't want to think about what most likely happened to her. No one did. We just kept hoping that she'll come back.

"Where's tiny and buttercup?" He asked.

"They're hiding from the cold in the tent. You know, they asked me if she has a love." I rubbed my hands together. Ash had told Varric when we were talking about what happened in the alternant future and he walked in. She explained everything to him.

"He's still oblivious, isn't he?" He sighed. I nodded my head.

"If what we're hoping doesn't happen, does? Should we tell him?" I looked over at Varric. He stared at the fire in though.

"It's almost been a day. I'm starting to think that it's already happened." He said, not taking his eyes away from the fire. "He should know. She did say that if anything happens to her that we should tell him about what happened." I nodded slowly even though he wasn't looking at me. After about an hour of sitting there he stood up and looked at me. My heart was in my stomach and the last of my hope had faded away. I got up too and we headed into Bull's tent. They were still sitting there. Sera was reading a journal and Bull was cleaning the sword Ash had made him. Varri had sat down next to Bull when I was ripped out of the tent.

"Kaffas, What are you doing!" I turned my head and saw Cullen pulling me towards the mountain.

"The scouts found something but you need to keep quiet. We aren't sure yet but you need to come just in case. We don't want to get people's hopes up." He said. He let go of my arm as I started running beside him.

"Do you think it could be her?" Cassandra asked, She and Leliana were running with us. We arrived to the scout who was holding a broken dragon staff. There were footsteps curving away from the camp. We followed them. My adrenaline was pumping and I could see something crawling in the distance. My heart started beating faster.

"Ataashi!" I shouted, still running. The figure stopped and tried to get up just to fall back down. I could hear the pitter patter of footsteps falling behind me I got closer and started heating up my hands. She looked up at me with empty eyes. I wrapped my arms around her and smiled. Her cracked lips starting to bleed. Her eyes started to close.

"Maker" Cullen muttered and took his fur off and placed it on her. I warmed it up with my hands that were still around her. Cullen helped me lift her up and we carried her back to camp.

"Gather all the unused blankets and and get as many potions as you can!" Cullen shouted to a soldier. He looked at me. "Do you know of any tents we can use?" I nodded.

"Help me put her over my shoulders and go grab a cot. It's the tent that's alone over there." I nodded towards Bulls tents. He instantly rushed off. I tried to run over there but carrying a 6'2 woman who feel like she's about 180 pound of pure muscle, is as harder as it sounds. Bull, Varric, and Sera came out of the tent, most likely to see what was going on. Bull rushed over when he saw me and grabbed her.

"What happened?" He asked, worry clear in his voice. We started for the tent when Cullen motioned us over.

"When we found her she was crawling in the snow. Probably trying to find us. Her staff is broken and when I started to warm her she smiled and her lips started bleeding and she fell unconscious. Now we're here" Bull set her down on the cot and we started covering her with blankets and I started warming up the blankets. A couple more healers ushered everyone out.

* * *

Bull's POV

It had been hours before they let us back in. They said she was asleep now and only suffered minor injures and a rib. I sat down by her and watched Dorian warm up her blankets again. I don't remember the last time I've felt this useless. I looked her over and felt angry with myself. If I had gone with her then she wouldn't be like this. Her skin was pale and her lips were blue and cracked and had some dried blood left in the cracks. The usual pink that she wore on them was smeared and rubbed off. The skin around her horns was starting to crack from the prolonged exposure to the cold.

"Sera, hand me my pack." I reached my hand out towards the small elf and grabbed it when she put it in my hand. I took out the horn balm. I could feel Sera stare at me, she was braiding Ash's hair. Something to do.

"What is it?" She asked and looked at the jar in my hands. I put some on my hands and started massaging her horn and handed some to Sera.

"Horn balm. It's like lotion but for horns. The base of hers are cracked and since that's not a comfortable feeling I figured I could at least help her with that." Sera grabbed some and started doing the same to the other. Dorian sighed and was looking at Varric who was just staring back at him with a small smile. They had come in earlier before Dorian was pulled out to get her. Varric had said they needed to tell me something.

"What were you going to say?" I said, still rubbing the balm in Ash's horns. They both looked at me.

"We no longer have permission to tell you." Dorian said. I just stared at him confused.

"Why?" I asked. He just looked at Ash and grabbed her hand.

"Because she kept her promise. She'll tell you eventually." Dorian stated quietly. Sera groaned.

"What's with all the secrets. It's shite! She wanted you to tell us somethin' but now you won't!" She shouted and narrowed her eyes at Dorian.

"It's her secret to tell. Not ours." Varric said, He was angled towards the door on a wooden chair with his arms crossed and his crossbow in his lap.

"Is this about what happened in Redcliff, isn't it? She was able to tell you but.."

"She only told me cause I walked in on a very important part of what she didn't tell us. She'll tell you when she's ready. That may even be when she wakes up or it may be later in the future." Varric interrupted. All of the sudden Cole was beside Varric and staring at Ash. I don't remember him coming in here.

"Cold, Lost, Alone. Blood everywhere. She needs to find them. Can't feel anything but pain. Pulsing, Burning, touching embers that still glow but can't feel it. She needs to get back to him. Warmth flooding memories. Home." He said, He looked up at us.

"What are you talking about?" Sera asked the question we were all thinking. He knelt down at the foot of the cot.

"She's dreaming about what happened. I help people." He looked at Dorian.

"Guilt, I can't believe I almost gave up hope. My only friend was out there and I did nothing but..."

"Cole, stop. Don't get inside my head like that. It's not kind, you know." Dorian said and looked away from the boy and down to Ash's hand that was still in his.

"What are you, Kid?" Varric asked.

"I am Cole. I help people." He said

"Yea we know that. But what are you? Are you a spirit." Sera asked. It was obvious that she didn't like him. Maybe more obvious to me due to the Ben-Hassrath training. He just shrugged.

"She realizes now that she loves him. She wants to say something but is to scared. My heart, but not his. _Someday_ She remembers. She smiles at her friend." Cole spoke again. I looked over to Dorian who was still staring at her bandaged hand. I sat there with my hands in my lap. This girl always seemed to confuse me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My family is coming down this week so there wont be an update Sunday.


	10. IMPORTANT

I'm sorry guys but I will not be continuing Iron and Obsidian. I am not happy with how my stories have turned out and am currently working on new ones. I have a new Fallout 4, Dragon Age Inquisition, and possibly a Walking Dead and Marvel. I'm not sure if I will be making the last two public. I need to work on them more.

I aim to have my stories up before the year ends (I'm going to write 5 chapters of each before posting so I'll never be behind in posts unless something comes up) but if I fail to meet that goal then It will be late January/ early February since I will be moving and we all know how stressful that it. I am also going to try to get a job (no more fun hair colors, I'm really saddened by this) and I need to get my permit (I'm 18 and don't have a permit so you see how I need that) so I have a lot on my plate. I also need to figure out what I'm going to do for the rest of my life because we all know we can't make money on here (That would be cool though) and I have NO idea what I want to spend my life doing, morgue maybe? I'm not good at talking to people and the only people I'd be around are dead or other workers so.... still no idea.

I'm sorry if you like my stories but they aren't going in the direction I wanted them to. I'm creating new OC's and getting everything sorted out right now. I will put a new update here when I publish my new books so stick around if you're interested in them.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time ever writing a fan-fiction so helpful comments are welcome. I'm going to update it every week. Thanks for reading and have a happy morning, afternoon, or evening wherever you are in the world!


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